Thankfulness

Finding a measure of wonder, transfixed by unseemly, simply because it is you.

I watch and remark at the sway of trees, but if I peer closely,
Hundred of thousands of chlorophyl tissues greet the sunrise.

Welcome in the morning sun.
Even as heat bears down, sinks into asphalt,
As puppy paws seek grass and shade.
Thanks even there for grand design.
My skin deepens, bronzes, adopts a lustrous hue.

Even as humidity climbs and the air thickens,
As sticky syrup, yet sweet as too.
The faintest breeze bearing honeysuckle, fresh mowed lawn and tiny clover.
I’m glad even for these “weeds”.

After a move,
I am swollen with thanks for quick work and few things.
For empty boxes and mounds of paper and unbroken treasures.

Thank you for pillows and sheets aplenty.
For dog bowls, spoons and laundry soap.
Thank you for the waiting,
And my soldier’s patience,
Who coaxed me this far,
To wait past reason, hush and wait some more.

Thank you for the soft body curled peaceful on my lap.
For perky, black-brown ears and bright eyes.
And thank you for just enough space for the two of us
On this chair, in this ray of sunlight.

I wrote this the day after we unpacked all our “stuff” after we moved from Columbus, GA to Clarksville, TN. I’m finding attentiveness to the Holy Spirit in intentional thanks.

Welcome to Clarksville! It’s my plan to be more spontaneous with our posts again here very soon, now that life is settling into its new, “normal”.

As I peeled my heart away from Columbus, GA and the friends I’ve made there and reacquainted with, the hobbies I’ve begun, my chair at church, the park that I frequented on sunny days and the one more conducive to rainy ones–as I gently wiggled my heart like a well-stuck sticker and tried to loosen it’s adhesive, I realized something. I mean no offense to friends, but I think I grieved the loss of routine more than anything. Does that make sense?

Of course, that routine included dear ones. I am sad for the end of weekly coffee visits with Johanna, for true-southern hospitality at Nanny and Katherine’s house. I am sad for Tuesday/Thursday visits on regular floors at TMC–for smiles with Mailey, Shanna, Nancy, Barbara, Megan, Penny, Daisy, Alex and Amy and others.

But here’s what I’m learning:

God has recently been speaking to me of exposure. My favorite therapist of all time (how many people can say that?) once told me that recovery would become easier with time, that walking in freedom would become my “new normal”. Stacy explained, “When water flows down one side of a hill over and over it creates a channel and nothing will divert it, unless the water is forced down the other side of the hill enough times. Then, it will create a deeper, more compelling channel on the other side. Over time, the water will naturally flow down that opposite side.”

Stacy was right about recovery. Today, healthy feels normal and right to me. But her lesson applies to so many other aspects of life, too.

The day after we arrived in Clarksville, Brave and I ventured to the Upland Trail, their version of a riverwalk. My heart sank. The trail is less than two miles long. Our home is lovely, but it’s situated in a neighborhood with no safe places to walk the dog. There’s more traffic than I expected, no Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or farmer’s market.

When our furniture didn’t arrive as early as I hoped, I felt my mood slipping and along with it a half dozen tears down my grimy cheeks. (Did I mention that it’s every bit as humid as Georgia? That leads to grimy cheeks quickly!)

Quietly, my Father started speaking to me about exposure.

Lord, what can that possibly have to do with me, here, now and this achy sense of loss. I have no routine here, no way to plan or expect what happens next. I have no friends to call for coffee or familiar parks to stroll. What does exposure have to do with it?

One week later, from Thursday, May 29 to Thursday, June 5, I understand. You see, in one week I’ve been exposed to spectacular Tennessee thunder storms, friendly neighbors, a new state park with a few miles of trails that emulate a rain forest. I’ve been exposed to new patterns of streets and today found my way home without the GPS. I’ve been exposed to “camping” with my husband for (too many) nights and the welcome hug of a comfy bed again. I’ve been exposed to
wide—–open—spaces that remind me of Oklahoma–ranches, farms and fields of wildflowers between every building, bridge or street. I’ve been exposed to new accents and a different version of southern hospitality. I’ve been exposed to a new side of the hill.

The course of my life has been redirected. In only seven days I’ve begun to wallow out a different bed for my stream. My life is bubbling over new stones, around mysterious curves and tumbling down unexpected bluffs.

Are you getting this?

Exposure is what makes normal. Exposure is what makes familiar and acceptable and good. How does a child know that the neighbor’s mom can’t make chocolate chip cookies? Because they don’t taste “right” like the ones that Grandma makes.

So, I’m discovering our new town, our new home and forming new habits. They will feel deliciously comfortable and right, until it’s time to move again. Then, with a gentle nudge, God will redirect the course of my life again, expose me to what only He foresees and I’ll fall in love all over again.

We talked a little bit last Monday (April 14) about prayers for healing. This was in my email inbox recently and it really blessed me. Since it goes with our conversation, I thought I’d share. You can read more of these devotionals here: https://thefathersbusiness.com/devotionals/

God’s Healing Touch

Listen to God’s word for you in Isaiah 42:3. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice.” And in Psalm 147:3. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Come to the promises of God for healing. In his humanity Jesus knew all your sorrows and griefs, your rejection and scorn, your shame and guilt, your infirmities and afflictions, your crushing and wounding, your oppression and suffering, your helplessness and your tendencies to go astray (Isa 53:1-6). He identified with you in every respect, because he was made like you in every way, and therefore he is able to come to your help (Heb 2:17-18). He understands feeling bruised, broken, wounded, and barren, and he turns them to shouts of joy (Isa. 54:1). He is your healing sacrifice.

Healing prayer is about applying God’s healing words to wounded, sinful, helpless, and hopeless places of life. Isaiah said that God takes our wounds as an opportunity to display his glory (Isa. 61:3). That’s how God can be glorified in the broken places. And the greater the wound, the greater the glory. In the end he “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4). God can restore what the enemy plundered. He said, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25).

Let the Holy Spirit of truth bring those things to the surface that he wants to touch, and be blessed to partner with him to do his work. Bring all memories to him so he can shine his light into the darkness, into the nooks and crannies of the mind, in all storage areas of the brain and your emotional mind. Give him all blocks to healing, especially unforgiveness, inner vows, judgments, unworthiness, negativity, and hopelessness. Be blessed with the healing love and compassion of Jesus touching everything from the past. Be blessed as Jesus lifts from you the scar tissue of past wounds, be they physical, verbal, emotional, or mental.

Let your spirit lead the way. Choose release, choose to open the doors of the prison of fear in the soul. Identify all burdens the soul is carrying of shame, guilt, and rejection. Identify the lies, confess them, and renounce them. Ask the Holy Spirit of truth to minister truth and expand on it, and let him bring you into his light. Be blessed as he heals deeply and profoundly at the root, inside the core issue, not just put a band-aid to cover over the injury.

Be blessed with the comfort of the Lord for disappointment, pain, loss, abandonment,

grief, fears, and all negative emotions. Look into the face of your tender Abba to

heal them all. Allow him to address your pain and minister his healing. He feeds you with gentleness and kindness, nourishing you with hope in him, gathering you under this wings, drawing you deeper into his grace.

God told Hezekiah, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, I will heal you.”

That’s quite a promise, and it is as true today as when it was spoken then. He responds to our tears with healing. Jeremiah said, “Heal me, and I shall be healed indeed.” Spirit, be excited by those words. God remains faithful to you. Rest in those words. Breathe in the love and healing of God.

Your Comforter indwells you. He is now administering comfort and healing in every area of hurt. Be blessed in the peace of God that rests upon you with his joy and strength. Be blessed in the courage of the Holy Spirit. The risen Jesus living in you is bringing you resurrection power. Align yourself with the Spirit of Christ Jesus every moment of every day. Be blessed as he rubs his oil into all the places that were barren, broken, and hurting. Be blessed as he washes those areas that were tender and raw. Be blessed as he brings back to life those parts of your being long denied or buried. Be blessed that he is everything to you that you need.

Spirit, be blessed in confidence that your heavenly Father honors your tears that seek

him, your patience to wait for him, your eyes to behold him, your wisdom to perceive him, your heart to meditate on him, and your life to show him forth in the power of the Spirit of Jesus your Lord.

Be blessed to receive more peace, more love, more power,

more of him who is All and fills everything in every way (Col 3:11; Eph 1:23).

How do you remember something? Do you tie a string around your finger? Make a note? Write it on your bathroom mirror or say it out loud to yourself over and over?

Just moments ago I folded up an eight-page letter that my grandparents wrote to me almost 25 years ago. I found it when I was going through my parents’ basement. I was helping them prepare to move, so we opened dozens of boxes that had been tucked away for years. As we opened each box and unwrapped the contents, it felt like Christmas discovering old toys, out-grown dresses and dusty photo albums. I was a little sad as we separated out many things to give away, but it was also a precious time of reliving special memories.

As Easter draws closer, it’s important to remember what it’s really about—remembering.

You’re heard of The Last Supper, right? It was the last dinner Jesus shared with His disciples before His death and resurrection. You’ve also probably heard of Passover. But did you know that they are related? Did you know that the Last Supper and Passover are memorials?

Just like my grandparents’ letter helps me to remember them, and just like the boxes in my parents’ basement bring special memories to mind, these two meals were given by God to help us remember.

The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for almost 400 years. After a series of plagues designed to force Pharaoh to free His people, God sent one final punishment. In order to separate out His people, to mark them and keep them safe as those who believed in the One True God, the Israelites killed a lamb and painted their door frames with its blood. Then, they ate their final meal in Egypt quietly inside their homes. That meal consisted of the lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. That final meal became a feast that the Israelites celebrated every year called The Passover.

Exodus 12:25b-27 says, “When you enter the land the LORD has promised to give you, you will continue to observe [Passover]. Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’”

Centuries later, in a quiet, upstairs room, Jesus and his disciples sat down to eat the Passover meal together and remember how God freed the Israelites. But, as Jesus broke the bread and poured the wine, He told the disciples something new:

“…and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”
(1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

Jesus still wanted the Passover to help them remember, but now He wanted them, and us, to remember something different. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He became our Passover Lamb. Because He died, God now “passes over” us; He forgives us and we don’t have to pay for our sins. Those who do not believe in Jesus, just like the Egyptians did not believe in The One True God, will not be passed over and they will face punishment for their sins.

This Easter, when you sit down to a special meal, stop for just a minute. Bow your head and remember what Jesus did for you, for me and for everyone who believes in Him.

Happy Friday, Friends! I have a special treat for you today, an interview with the indomitable Megan Cyrulewski. I say indomitable and mean it in every sense of the word. She recently posted the first chapter of her book, Who Am I, on her blog. When you read it, you’ll get it 🙂

I confess, I’ve conned Megan into sharing an advanced copy of her book with me when they’re available, so I’ll review that for you here, too. After slowly reading the delicious first chapter, I’m pining to know the rest of the story.

But for now, without further adieu,

What is your name? And while we’re on the subject, do you have any nicknames and where did they come from?Megan Cyrulewski. Friends call me Meg. My dad calls me Meggie, which was my childhood nickname. Only my dad can get away with calling me that!

In your book’s teaser, you mention your daughter. How old is she and what’s her name? How did you choose her name?Madelyne Rose was born on 12/2/10 so she is a little bit more than 3-years-old. Her name comes from two different places: Madelyne from the book (and mini-series) North and South and Rose was my grandmother’s name. She passed away in 2006.

Your other “baby” must be this new book we can’t wait to read. What is the title and how did you come up with it?My new book is a memoir called, Who Am I? I came up with the title because in the middle of this traumatic period in my life, one day my dad called me Meggie. I remember thinking to myself, I’m not Meggie anymore. Who am I?

I know your book is your memoir, what convinced you to write your story? What sets your story apart from other life-stories?I love reading about adversity and the courage people have to rise above. I was inspired by the book Her by Christina Parravani (who is actually a FB friend now…it’s totally a celebrity moment for me!) Her words were just so poetic and harsh at the same time. It’s as though I could feel Christina’s pain reaching out of the pages. I thought that if I could write my own story half as good as she wrote hers, I hope to inspire people too.

I think what makes my story so different is that there was just so much going on in my life in a 2-year span: a new baby, divorce, postpartum depression, hospital stays, child custody battle, domestic violence, and much more all while I was in Law School. To this day, I’m really not sure how I managed to survive that time period.

Is there a message or moral that you want your readers to take away?There are two very important messages I want to get across: First, domestic violence is not just physical. It comes in all forms. There was some physical violence in my marriage (and after) but my ex-husband emotionally abused me, which is just as bad as physical violence. To be told over and over again that I am fat, lazy, ugly, a joke, etc. made me feel suicidal because if the person I love feels this way about me, then others must think the same thing. It took a lot of therapy to help me realize that I am worthy again. Second, postpartum depression is not about wanting to hurt your kids. (i.e. Andrea Yates.) That is a stereotype that I am very passionate about changing. I felt that I wasn’t a good enough mother for my child and therefore, I wanted to kill myself because I felt that my daughter deserved better than me. It is an awful feeling.

What was your writing process? Did you outline your book first or just let it develop as you went? Did the book turn out as you expect it or take on a life of its own?My wonderful brilliant attorney (who is like a second father to me) advised me to keep a log of everything my ex-husband did right after I filed for divorce. So when I was ready to write my book two years later, I sort of had an outline already.

There are parts of the book that were extremely hard to write. I didn’t like reliving some of the events that had happened. Those were the days I had to walk away from the computer. While I was writing the book, I was finally able to write my thoughts down on paper. There were a lot of times I wanted to say something to my ex-husband and his new wife, but I couldn’t. Now, I can…and I did.

What was the editing process like?I have to admit that I am not as good at grammar as I thought! My book has gone through the first round of edits and it amazed me at how many grammar mistakes I had made. Thank God for editors! Authors can’t live without them!

How did you find your publisher, Black Opal Books?To find an agent or a publisher is extremely tough. It is a very subjective industry so if you don’t have thick skin, you aren’t going to make it. I sent out tons of queries and got back 33 rejections before Black Opal Books offered me a contract. I will forever be grateful that they took a chance on me and my story. They are a wonderful publishing company and all of us BOB authors feel more like family than clients.

Do you have any more books “in the works”?I am working on my first book of fiction, a legal thriller. (Think John Grisham.) I have to use that law degree for something, right?! I’ve only told the plot to one person and the moment her jaw dropped and she gasped at the big “twist,” I knew I had a good story. Now all I have to do is add more hours to the day so I can finish writing it!

What hobbies do you have or what things do you do when you’re not writing or working?Most of my free time is spent with Madelyne. It’s been rough this winter because of the polar vortex here in Michigan. Right now Madelyne takes dance and gymnastics classes. But as soon as it starts to get warm, we love being outside. I take her to the zoo almost every Sunday in the summer. There is nothing I love more in this world than being with Madelyne. My second most favorite thing is my girl’s nights! I have to have non-mommy time and hang with my girls! (And by hang, I mean put on some yoga pants, head over to someone’s house, drink some wine and eat some chocolate. Party on.)

And Just a Few Fun Ones:

Coffee or Tea – COFFEE!!! Must have coffee every morning!

Night owl or early mornings?Night owl for sure. But Madelyne is a morning person, so I really don’t remember the last time I’ve slept past 6:30 AM.

Dogs or cats?Cats. At one point, my ex and I had 5 cats. Now I have 3.

Sweet or salty?Salty. I’m addicted to chips.

Beach or Mountains?Beach! I’ve been to Hawaii twice and want to go back. Bora Bora is on my bucket list. I just need someone to go with me! Any single men reading this?? 😉

Thank you, Megan Cyruleski, for visiting Predatory Lies today. I truly am pining to read your book! And I’m grateful for the time you took to interview me as well. Your passion to support other authors makes you one-of-a-kind and a treasure!

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Friends, As we anticipate the release of my Bible study, Beyond Belief: Jesus Saved You–Now What? We are launching a another website to accommodate both books, promotions, videos and much more:
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Please visit me there as well, to stay abreast of everything that’s going on with the new Bible study!
Because He Lives, Abby